The sound of ripping gift wrap paper accompanies a yelp of pure delight as a friend opens a present, to reveal a delicate handmade sewn creation. Its presence creates brilliant smiles to nearby faces.
Freshman Celena Chen, Junior Kitty Tereszczuk and Senior Alex Oro make these smiles appear with their creations. The students all share a common goal of crafting gifts for lucky recipients this Christmas.
Chen makes plushies, stuffed toys, modeled after characters from the webcomic “Homestuck.” She has been making small crafts in her spare time since her mother taught her as a little girl, but plushie-making began when two of her interests came together: sewing and webcomics.
“I started out making them just for fun,” Chen said. “Just for something to do in my free time, because I had a lot of free time in the summer after summer school was over.”
The plushies are made of fleece fabric stuffed with polyester fiberfill and little plastic buttons or ornaments for the eyes. Although her sewing began as a hobby, she has been putting the pedal to the metal recently because her friends have been requesting their own plushies.
“A few of my friends saw some that I brought along with me to school,” Chen said. “They asked me to make them for them and I said ‘Okay!’”
Design partners Kitty Tereszczuk and Alex Oro are also sewing experts, making an assortment of items from hair bows, soft felt toys, head wraps and even scarves.They began their sewing endeavors last summer, when Tereszczuk bought a bag of scraps from an American Apparel Factory. Despite being taught the basics, Tereszczuk and Oro can be described as self-taught. Most of the scarves and head wraps they make do not have a pattern or template.
“When someone buys your product, you know that you put so much time and love into it,” Oro said. “When you see them put it on, it’s gratifying.”
For Tereszczuk and Oro, customers do not have to be just their friends. The two have recently opened an online shop at Etsy, a website for handmade art. Their products can be found athttp://www.etsy.com/people/VelvetGlory.
“Just seeing other people wear it makes me happy,” Tereszczuk said. “If I see someone on campus and I know that I made that bow they’re wearing, it makes me feel happy.”